"The fishermen, when they lose their fish, they think" - A., a Somali in Germany.
Since November 2010, ten Somali citizens are on trial for Piracy in Hamburg, Germany. This blog is about the trial and the background on why fishermen are forced to change their profession.

Hans Lodder, Captain of the Dutch frigate “Tromp”, who gave evidence on 26 January is back for cross examination.

First, the judge wants to know how much ammunition was used. Lodder is rather vague – yes, it's recorded somewhere but he doesn't know. “Probably one small box” is all he is willing to say. And another 2 boxes from the helicopter.

The defence asks about the detention of the Somali men. It turns out they were constantly chained to the deck, unless they went to the toilet. At night they slept on a mattress, still chained with one hand to the deck.

These questions relate to the fact that one of the detainees managed to jump over board and had to be captured. The defence wants to know whether that was before or after the interrogation. The judge intervenes at the word interrogation. It was after the 'voluntary interview', that he jumped over board. It is revealed that officer de Vind, who gave evidence the day before, took part in the interviews, although he wasn't part of the team.

10 February 2011

The Dutch navy officer de Vind is giving evidence today. But the hearing starts late because the prisoner transport is stuck in traffic.

During all the previous court hearings several people had been sitting between the press bench and the public gallery, observing the proceedings. They are neither lawyers, nor court officials, nor prison guards. We have long suspected that they are non-uniformed police. Today they made sarcastic remarks about one of the defendants not having eaten for days. Then they ask us if we knew who the person was who called the judge an arsehole at the last hearing. We're pretty sure now.

About this blog

Many of us who are involved in anti-racist politics in Hamburg have met people from Somalia before - usually as refugees, who are hidden away in camps where their voices aren't heard. Their plight, like that of most refugees, goes unreported. Now we've come across Somali people in a different context - as defendants in a high profile 'piracy' trial that is reported widely in the mainstream media as the first trial of its kind in 400 years. But the reasons why the second group are on trial have a lot to do with the reasons why the first group flee their country.
Still, despite all the attention, the media aren't interested in hearing from the accused. The reporting does not look beyond the events in the court room. The interest of English speaking media has ceased entirely.
With this blog we are aiming to scratch the surface and provide more background about why fishermen become pirates, why a group of people from one of the poorest countries in the world are on trial in one of the most powerful countries for things they are accused of having done in the Indian Ocean. We want to report things that the mainstream media don't and to help make the voices of the accused heard.